Criminal

The Mothers

Episode #83

There is a group in Durham, NC called “Parents of Murdered Children.” This week, we meet three of its members.

Photojournalist JustinCook has spent ten years documenting the impact of homicide in Durham, North Carolina. You can see more of his work here.

Photographer JustinCook writes: Joslin Simms’s son, Rayburn, 30, was killed in 2005. The case remains unsolved. She says: “Since Ray been murdered, I have nightmares. I dream of him in the morgue and when they are cutting his body I wake up because I can feel the knife cutting me.” Thirteen years later, Joslin remains maimed by her grief. She calls it a “walking death.” But her grief also propels her to speak out about gun violence, poverty and gentrification in her community.

Photographer JustinCook writes: Mothers laugh and cry, and form lasting bonds when they remember their children in the basement of The Shepherd’s House United Methodist Church in Durham, NC.